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California Challenges Trump Plan To Ease Review Of Climate Impacts

/in , /by /KQED News by Kevin Stark

Another day, another environmental policy skirmish.

California, 17 other states, and Washington, D.C. today challenged a Trump administration plan to limit climate change analysis for major energy and infrastructure projects.

In a statement emailed to reporters, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra called Trump’s plan “reckless” and said it “leads agencies to ignore the climate crisis, the most pressing environmental challenge of our time.”

“We’re reminding President Trump once again: if you try to backslide on the safeguards protecting our nation’s environment and put polluters in the driver’s seat, we will hold you accountable,” he said.

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State Launches Probe Into Oil Field Spills – Including One That’s Been Flowing Since 2003

/in , , /by /KQED Newsby Ted Goldberg and Dan Brekke

State oil and gas regulators say they’re launching an investigation of operations in a Kern County oil field after a series of large, uncontrolled crude petroleum releases near Chevron wells — including one that has continued on and off for more than 16 years and may have spewed out more than 50 million gallons of crude oil.

The state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, known as DOGGR, served Chevron with a notice of violation on Friday, ordering the company to stop major, uncontrolled surface flows at a site called Gauge Setting 5, or GS-5, in the Cymric oil field. Oil has been flowing from the location since March 2003.

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California Will Check On ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Drinking Water. What You Need To Know

/in , , /by /KQED News (San Francisco, Calif.)by Molly Peterson

Over 75 years, a billion-dollar industry has grown up around a group of toxic chemicals that helps keep carpets clean, makes water roll off of camping equipment, and stops your food from sticking to frying pans. There are nearly 5,000 of these chemicals in a class called PFAS, for perfluoralkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. We’re just beginning to understand the risk they pose. What chemists know is that the tough carbon-fluorine bonds in these “forever chemicals” make them break down very slowly in the environment — posing a persistent risk to water supplies.  The Centers for Disease Control has profiled PFAS, which has been studied in people and in animals. Studies have linked to it developmental problems, thyroid disease, harm to the immune system, and impaired liver function.

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Study Suggests New Climate Threats To California’s Oysters

/in , /by /KQED News (San Francisco, Calif.)by Kevin Stark

In the winter, rainstorms soak California’s coastline. In the spring and summer, strong winds blow waves into the narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean. For the briny bivalves that live in the bay, this is part of the natural rhythm of life. But now, because of climate change, the torrents of winter rain run with increasing severity, and for oysters, all that freshwater can be dangerous. Summer’s waves bring increasingly acidic water, making it harder for small oysters to build their calcium-based shells. For years, scientists have warned that ocean acidification threaten oysters, but new research from UC Davis suggests that climate change ravages the creatures in a multitude of ways.

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State Agency Hopeful Chevron’s Massive Kern County Spill Is Finally Over

/in , , /by /KQED-FM (San Francisco, Calif.)by Ted Goldberg

State regulators say they’re cautiously optimistic that a major release of crude oil from a Chevron well in Kern County — an episode that has continued for three months — is finally over. Chevron told state officials Wednesday that more than 1.3 million gallons of oil and water have flowed to the surface in the Cymric oil field, 35 miles west of Bakersfield, since May 10. An estimated one-third of that, or 445,130 gallons, is believed to be crude petroleum. The spill, which Chevron and the state’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources describe as a “surface expression,” has led to a major cleanup operation near the town of McKittrick.

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Kern County Spills Still Growing, Chevron To Appeal

/in , /by /KQED News (San Francisco)by KQED News Staff

As Chevron Gets Ready to Appeal State Order, Kern County Spill Continues to Grow. One of the largest oil spills our state has seen in decades is still growing. The oil giant Chevron told regulators almost a million gallons of fluid has burst through the ground near the site of one its oil wells about 30 miles from Bakersfield. Chevron also told state officials it plans to appeal an order from regulators calling for it to “take all measures” to stop the spill and ensure it doesn’t happen again.

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Becerra On Trump Administration’s New Rule For Coal-Fired Power Plants: They’re ‘Backsliding’

/in , /by /KQED News (Sacramento)

The Trump administration has rolled back a landmark Obama-era rule that sought to wean the nation’s electrical grid off coal-fired power plants and their climate-damaging pollution. Its replacement gives individual states wide discretion to decide whether to require limited efficiency upgrades at individual coal-fired power plants. Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler calls it a sign that “fossil fuels will continue to be an important part of the mix” in the U.S. energy supply.

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Newsom Catches Heat For Using Climate Funds On Drinking Water Plan

/in , , /by /KQED News (Sacramento)by Kevin Stark

California lawmakers are poised to fund the cleanup of dirty drinking water in the state’s poorest communities — a problem most everyone agrees needs to be addressed. Not everyone, however, agrees on where the money should come from to pay for it.The issue? The Legislature wants to use revenue from California’s  cap-and-trade climate change program, which was created to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by making companies pay for the right to emit them.

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The Not-So-Crystal Clean History Of San Francisco’s Drinking Water

/in , /by /KQED News (Sacramento)by Rachael Myrow

To the west of Interstate 280 along the Peninsula south of San Francisco, there’s a long stretch of beautiful greenery. The hills are carpeted with trees, a thick bank of coastal fog hugs the ridge line, and nestled in the middle sit two crystal clear lakes. It all looks so pristine, untouched even. But it’s entirely man made. When Jackie Nuñez moved to San Mateo from Santa Barbara, she couldn’t help but notice the Crystal Springs reservoirs.

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Shasta Dam Expansion: California, Conservation Groups Sue Water District Over Plan

/in , /by /KQED News (Sacramento)by Craig Miller

The battle over Shasta Dam is escalating. This week, California’s attorney general and several fishing and conservation groups filed separate lawsuits to stop a controversial project to elevate the dam and expand the state’s largest reservoir, near Redding. “This project is unlawful,” wrote Attorney General Xavier Becerra in a statement announcing the state’s lawsuit. “

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